HILLSVILLE ― Town police are seeking help from citizens to solve a break-in and theft from two travelers’ vehicles parked at Shoney's at Interstate 77's Exit 14 on July 5.
During a day marked by high Fourth of July holiday week traffic, someone broke a window in two different vehicles from New York and took several items of electronic equipment from inside, according to Hillsville Police Chief Greg Bolen.
The devices — laptops, cell phones and tablets — were taken some time between 10 and 11 a.m. when the travelers stopped in Hillsville to eat.
Police checked with diners at the Shoney's restaurant, but no one had seen anything, Bolen said.
There was a lot of traffic around town over the holiday week. He estimated that the amount of vehicles pulling off the interstate and using the gas stations and restaurants was about 20 percent higher than normal.
“We can’t assume they are local people [who committed this act] — it could be anybody traveling,” the chief said.
He hopes that somebody will have seen the incident and report it to the police. This has worked in the past to solve other cases.
“The public’s been pretty good to get involved with us,” Bolen said.

• Anyone with information can report it to the Hillsville Police Department by calling (276) 728-2251 or going to the department’s Facebook page and sending a message.